Greetings, Faithful Talkbackers. Ambush Bug here proudly presenting the first column of Year Six for the @$$Holes of AICN Comics. It’s hard to believe that five years have passed since @$$Hole founder The Comedian, AKA Ali Knievel, sent his first review in to AICN. A few weeks later, on March 3, 2002, O@’s Buzz Maverik, Cormorant (now known as Dave F.), the Comedian, and myself put together our very first review column. Soon after, we were joined by the Village Idiot, Sleazy G, Vroom Socko, Jon Quixote, Superninja, and the original Indie Jones herself Lizzybeth and the League of @$$Holes was formed.
Throughout the years, @$$Holes have come and gone, leaving their own distinctive mark at @$$Hole HQ and on the collective consciousness of comicbookdom. Only a few of us originals remain, but @$$Holes: Generation Next have kept the good fight a goin’ and we’ve never stopped bringing you no-bullshit reviews straight from the heart, off the cuff, and full of that sweet @$$y goodness. So welcome to AICN Comics, Volume Six. We have some great things planned for the upcoming year.Let’s start off by announcing the winners for our 28 DAYS LATER: THE AFTERMATH Contest. In upcoming weeks, the header will feature submissions from our five winners: The Heathen, Chris Othic, Samuel Johnson, Dr. Zeus, and The Great Gizmo. Thanks to all who participated. Winners, we will be in contact with you shortly and your copy of 28 DAYS LATER: THE AFTERMATH will be in the mail soon.
And now, on with the reviews!

Hey gang, Vroom Socko here. A little over two years ago, the first issue of a little book called ELK’S RUN was released. It was a creepy comic, about an isolated community a la THE WICKER MAN, and what happens when the son of the town founder discovers their secret. It was damn good, it was compelling, it played with narrative and perspective in fun and exciting ways…
And it only saw half the story published.
But finally, after two years and three publishers, ELK’S RUN is finally collected and completed, thanks to Random House of all companies. And the second half, I’m pleased to say, kicks as much ass as the first. I’m also pleased to say that after reading the complete story I had a chance to chat with its writer, Joshua Hale Fialkov. Here’s what was said:
Vroom: First of all, this was totally worth the wait.

How on earth did Random House get involved with comics? Did they call
you, or...

Random House has been doing comics in a couple different forms for a while. There's the Del Rey Manga line (which has some astonishingly good stuff in it), and then they've done comics here and there in the past. I think the idea of doing an adult graphic novel push (adult meaning mature, not porno, obviously), just suited the business at the time. Graphic Novels have never been as high profile as they are know, and with the success of things like THE END OF VIOLENCE and 300, it's no longer just about superheroes. There's a certain natural connection between pop culture and the sequential narrative form that seems to be cinched into just about everybody's brains.

Do you regret not seeing this finished as a monthly?

I do, a lot. I created the book with the express purpose of having every issue be somewhat of a self-contained snippet of the story. I think it works really well in issue form. That being said, we got to go in and change a lot of stuff to get it to flow in a way that we were all happy with as a trade, which is something we'd probably not had time to do otherwise. And there's a lot to be said for having a nice pretty spine on the shelf.

I've described this book to a few of my friends as a cross between RUNAWAYS and RED DAWN. Would you consider that an accurate one sentence descriptive?

I think we actually pre-date RUNAWAYS. And RED DAWN is something people put on us, more than I do. But, yeah, it's certainly got similar elements. For me, it was influenced more by things like Kurosawa's RASHOMON and Russell Banks's THE SWEET HEREAFTER. Between the dark point of view and the shifting narratives, those two things were really the dominant influences.

Well, if you're going to be influenced by something...Now that you mention it, I can totally see the influence of those two on this story. I haven't read HEREAFTER, but I did love the movie, and RAHOMON is Kurosawa for God's sake.
How do you describe the book to people you give it to read?

It's a story about family and community, and it's about what happens when you let beliefs trump morals.
Or y'know, it's about a town where the parents and kids are at war with each other. Either one. What we all tried really hard to accomplish with the book was to have it be much more than just a tag line or high concept, and, for good or ill, we accomplished that, I think.

I think so too. So after all the time and effort and publishers you've gone through with this book, you think the end result lived up to your expectations?

Most definitely. I think Random House has really hit the book out of the park. In retrospect, this is what we should've done from the start, but, realistically, it took all of those starts and stops at other publishers to get the book in people's faces, and more importantly, into people's hearts. If it wasn't for the passion shown by our fans, the book would not exist today, and for that, I'm eternally grateful.

Without spoiling anything for new readers, what character do you empathize with the most: the one who set out to create his own world that abides by his own rules, or the one who tries to look for the place where he belongs in the existing world?

To be honest, I think they both serve as a part of the same person. You have this idealism in the father that gives way to harsh pragmaticism, just as with the son you have idealism that butts up against reality, and literally forces the characters to deal with things in a pragmatic way. Someone much wiser than I once said that the only difference between the good guys and the bad guys is which side you're on. That's a powerful image for me, and it really served as the linchpin for the series creatively.

Just how surreal is it to walk into a Barnes & Noble and see a stack of books with your name on it?

I worked in TV for a long while, so I get to see my name in the credits on shows from network to cable. The first time I saw that, it was a little weird. Seeing a book in the bookstores is probably a thousand times stranger, because, it's like a little piece of me is in there. For everyone to see, just sitting there. And not in the discount bin!

Bookstores, the world's largest publisher...do you think this is the future of comics?

For certain types of comics, yes. I think that the buying patterns of most comic readers are pretty entrenched, and, if you're doing something that falls outside of that realm, then you need to get to a different audience. In any other medium, ELK’S RUN is mainstream. It's a suspense thriller. Yet, in comics, it's relegated to being "Indie." That's just baffling to me. Our medium contributed so deeply to pop culture, and not just by superheroes. If you look at the rich history of comics pre-Stan Lee, you see that EVERYTHING was coming out. War, Westerns, Romance, Horror, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Drama, and Adventure comics. And they all sold equally well. Sure, the superhero stuff really resonated, but even within that stuff, there was much more range of genre. I'm a staunch believer that unless that stuff becomes the mainstream of comics, our audience is going to continue to stagnate, or worse....shrink.
So, yes, book publishers and bookstores are indeed the future of comics.

So what do you have coming up next?

Well, coming out in the next few weeks is my first issue of VAMPIRELLA, for Harris Comics. That's a chance for me to write one of my favorite characters from my youth, and it's been an absolute blast. Then, in Previews next month is PUNKS THE COMIC, which is sort of a cross between a comic and a zine, being created with Kody Chamberlain. It's this dada-esque love song to Punk Rock in sitcom form. You can check that out here. Then, the thematic sequel to ELK’S RUN, THREE RIVERS, is currently being syndicated online. You can get that, and info about everything else I'm working on over here.

You can buy your own copy of ELK’S RUN at your local comic shop, and at finer bookstores everywhere.

AGENTS OF ATLAS HC

"I just took on the most powerful covert agency in the world based on what a killer robot told me. I'm an idiot."
Why isn't this an oversized hardcover? I mean, seriously. Marvel's Premiere Edition line of hardcovers reprints recent storylines with no real extras, maybe some sketches. They aren't meant to be awesome, just hardbound for people who like that sort of thing. This volume is filled with awesome. It has a short expose on the online game Jeff Parker ran as the mini-series was coming out that involved secret websites and getting passwords from retailers and figuring out obscure puzzles and all sorts of other coolness. It has all six weeks of agent profiles and exposes from CBR. It even has reprints of the original issues where Namora, Venus, Marvel Boy, Gorilla Man, the Human Robot, Jimmy Woo, and the Yellow Claw first appeared, and the WHAT IF issue that first brought them all together in 1978. The damn thing is half extras! And who wouldn't want to see Leonard Kirk's work oversized, on good paper? Seems like it would have been a no-brainer to me.
That said, this is still a spectacular book. First of all, you get all that awesome for twenty-five bucks. That's a hell of a deal. Second, AGENTS OF ATLAS was one of the best reads of last year from Marvel. It may be my favorite Jeff Parker work so far, even beating out my love for his MARVEL ADVENTURES: AVENGERS work. The basic story goes like this: The story from that WHAT IF issue actually happened. Don't worry, it gets recapped quickly in the mini-series. Some forty years later, the heroes are scattered all over. Jimmy Woo and Gorilla Man both work for SHIELD, though they don't work together. Venus has disappeared, as has M-11 the Human Robot, and Marvel Boy and Namora are both believed dead. Then Jimmy gets a wild hair up his nose, forms an unauthorized mission to hunt down the Yellow Claw, and is horribly wounded. SHIELD can't do anything for him, so it’s up to his old buddies to help him and figure out what he was trying to do.
Enter Gorilla Man and M-11, who take on an entire helicarrier with help from Marvel Boy (don't worry, his being alive is explained) to rescue their boy. SHIELD agent Khanata goes along for the ride. You may remember him from Fred van Lente's Scorpion stories in AMAZING FANTASY a couple years ago, coincidentally also drawn by Leonard Kirk, but probably not. Anyway, from there the team heads out to investigate the mystery of what Jimmy was hunting, find their old friends, and more. Parker is at the top of his game with both the intrigue and characterization, and I for one never saw the surprises in the last issue coming. Kirk does a spectacular job of bringing it all to life, and some scenes, like Marvel Boy eating or Gorilla Man being carried by M-11, firing a gun with all four hands, just blew me away.
Even though I think an oversized hardcover would have been a better choice, this book is still a great choice to pick up. The story and art are fantastic, the extras are prodigious, and the price is right.

WORLD WAR III miniseries event

Well, Marvel had a big event with WAR in the title, so it seems DC had to follow suit with their own little war. As usual, I found DC’s endeavor more entertaining and more character based, but no less convoluted and unnecessary. DC’s War has been building for a while in the pages of their weekly maxiseries 52 and since it’s been a while since any of the ‘Holes have covered 52 (it’s been since the halfway point, actually), I figured now, before this week’s last issue, would be as good a time as any to look back on the maxiseries and the event that it birthed.
To start out, I have been moderately pleased with this maxiseries. DC did it. They were able to publish a weekly serial for an entire year. Marvel couldn’t put out a seven issue miniseries in seven months. But DC can’t pat themselves on the backs too much with the many missteps they’ve taken with titles like FLASH, AQUAMAN, and the eternally late WONDER WOMAN. I have to give this maxiseries credit where credit is due, though. It was put out every week, without fail. So I’ll lob a kudo or two their way for that accomplishment.
The story itself in 52 has been hit and miss for me, mostly depending on which characters were being highlighted. A world spanning catastrophe was coming together and in issue 51, I guess, the meaning of 52 has been revealed, but in all honesty, the “big reveal” was more weird than shocking and after the events of WORLD WAR III, it was kind of anti-climactic, to tell you the truth.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Let’s talk about war…WORLD WAR III.
Out of all of the subplots that have been crissing and crossing through the pages of 52, the Black Adam story has by far been the most entertaining. The former and newly reborn villain went through quite an arc throughout the last year. He found love and even made a family, only to have it destroyed, causing the rampage that leads up to WORLD WAR III. And to tell you the truth, WEEK 50, the issue that depicts the events of WORLD WAR III, was actually one of the best issues of the maxiseries. Adam tears loose on the The Great Ten while the heroes, trying to avoid a national incident, gather and wait on China’s border for word from the Chinese government when they can enter the battle. This is a tense few panels as some of the more rowdy heroes get restless and threaten to jump the border. The build-up to the actual attack actually made me feel like I was reading a war story where rules of engagement are mapped out and battles are planned. This is no brawl between whining heroes on a few blocks in Manhattan a la CIVIL WAR. This is united front of super-heroes against an enraged and powerful villain. Whereas one might argue that a bunch of heroes battling a villain isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, the events that lead up to the skirmish were done in such a skillful manner than this battle did matter. From start to a finish I found that to be pretty damn inventive (although not entirely original), 52 WEEK 50 lived up to the hype and surpassed it.Unfortunately, DC had to make an event out of this big issue and four WORLD WAR III one shots were published in conjunction with the release of WEEK 50. These issues were to fill in the holes of this massive war, offering a more intimate look at some of the moments that happened off panel. It also was a way for DC to fill in some of the plot holes left when they jumped ahead in continuity one year at the beginning of the 52 maxiseries (to quote Ben Grimm, “My head’s startin’ ta hurt, Stretcho.”)
I found these one shots to be a waste of my time and money. While Ostrander and Champagne don’t write an unreadable story, they are writing an unnecessary one. Pages were dedicated to Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Nightwing, but after reading a few issues of those ONE YEAR LATER series, I ceased to care. So why would I give a shit about them now? Basically, these one shots are an overblown explanation to why these titles and characters became as shitty as they are right now. They are more like an editorial afterthought, answering fanboy questions as to the hows and whys behind continuity details. This is DC’s answer to Marvel’s series of one-shots that did the same thing after CIVIL WAR was overwith. Aquaman’s a kid. Martian Manhunter hung up the tiny man-pants in exchange for leather. And Nightwing and Red Hood shared the same tailor for a while. Did I really need to spend ten extra dollars to find out why these bad ideas came to be?
Now back to 52 WEEK 51. Again, I feel DC misstepped here in hyping issue fifty so much. Now, everything else seems more like an epilogue. Animal Man makes an appearance and the Lost In Space story comes to a close. The mystery of 52 is revealed, sort of, and it all just lands off the page and into your noggin with a big wet thud.The problem here, I think, is the fact that the actual “mystery” of 52 wasn’t really presented with much clarity. I remember reading the ads for 52 later on in the series, asking the reader if they have solved the mystery yet. I found myself asking, “What mystery?” I found this to be an interesting serial maxiseries with a large cast. Some of the individual stories were good, others were not. But as far as some grand plot that ties it all together, I think the writers are stretching it to make it all mesh together into something more meaningful than it was. Attempts to tie things up now, after the storylines sort of took off on their own (Dan Didio admitted in last week’s editorial that the storylines did this and that entire subplots were neglected in favor of stories more interesting to the writers), seem rushed and forced, and a little too little and a little too late to me.
52 was kind of a beautiful mess. It had some great storylines, a bunch of top talent, and brought some very cool characters back to the forefront. But after the phenomenal battle in WEEK 50, the unnecessary one shots, the lackluster reveal, and the clumsy way the book is ending make me think they should have ended the whole shebang two weeks early.

SQUADRON SUPREME: HYPERION VS NIGHTHAWK #4

Okay, the horrors going on in Darfur, truly terrible. A worthy topic to bring to the public’s attention. And it is possible to raise awareness on the topic through drama. ER did a hell of a job of it. The HYPERION VS. NIGHTHAWK mini-series does a less effective job.
Man, I feel bad saying that. The cause is so worthy but…doing something like this you need to tell a great story and drop some knowledge on the reader. The story does give us info but not in the most effective manner. We are shown the horrors, but sort of second hand. We see Africans being killed and abused but… we don’t know them, we aren’t invested in them. What is shown does convey some of the horror but not to the level it could have been.
The other problem is the amount of time where instead of being shown the problem, we are being told about it. Some of it I get. The big esoteric political stuff? The best way to get it across is with words. But pick your shots. The final giant battle is a political debate happening during a smackdown fight. “Don’t you see the socio-political ramifications of your actions?” he shouts while delivering a crushing blow to his foes solar plexus!!!!! Okay, that exact thing didn’t happen but it sums up the final fight.
The book tries to balance the Darfur stuff with a more straightforward battle between Nighthawk and Hyperion. Nighthawk has somehow found a way to hurt Hyperion. With these two being more “real world” versions of Batman and Superman, that should be fertile ground. The horror of discovering that not only does Batman know kryptonite can hurt Superman but he keeps a gun loaded with kryptonite bullets handy! Only this is the Squadron Supreme universe! More off the hook. Their equivalent of The Joker pushed the limits of being a psycho. So how Nighthawk can hurt Hyperion must really be a corker. And for four issues we wait to find out the secret. Yeah…kinda not so amazing. Not even 100% sure I buy it. Sigh.
The whole point of Nighthawk finding the chink in Hyperion’s armour is part of Nighthawk’s plan to lure Hyperion to Darfur to help with the problems over there. Once they are both over they kick ass and talk political in the name of helping the region. The problem is, they never drop out of their normal mode of operation. Hyperion stays a God (only one who can be hurt by Nighthawk) and Nighthawk remains a millionaire vigilante trying to solve the world’s problems. This whole book might have done a lot better to break these characters more out of their normal mode, force them to see the world in a new way so that through them we also see the world in a new way. It tries. Hyperion feels pain but it has no direct tie to the problems at hand. And he does see the horrors, but still in that god-playing-tourist way. As upset as he might be, it is still a problem removed from him. This is where ER did a better job with this issue. It dropped the doctors right into the Darfur situation where its problems were THEIR problems. They were in the mix; they could easily die. Dr. Pratt, a cocky U.S. doctor in the area to save lives, ended up on the run and having to actually take a life. They gave you the feeling of a real guy who actually found himself suddenly a killer and who was part of the situation, not slightly above it looking down.
But, hey, these are heroes. Heroes are above it all, right? Well, then switch that up. Knock them down into that mix. Nighthawk thinks he can throw money and violence at the situation and fix it. Instead of just having him told it can’t work, really have it blow up in his smart guy face. Once he’s in Darfur and he’s away from his money, strip him of his war toys, put him in the position of being one more black guy on the run in the area. And he came up with a clever way to make Hyperion feel pain? Push it further. Why not have him have a way to turn Hyperion’s powers off? Maybe by remote? So Nighthawk’s getting all clever. He has Hyperion turned off and he’s in total control…until he’s not. One wrong move and he loses his toys, his advantages and gets his ass kicked around. Same time he loses his ability to repower Hyperion. Now you’ve got two guys really IN the Darfur situation and seeing the world from an uncomfortable new perspective. By the time they get themselves out of it they might have a deeper understanding of the problems.
But that isn’t what happens. As bad as they feel about what is going on, as much as they try to help, as much as they are more aware, I don’t think you see them changed in any deep ways. If the heroes aren’t changed, are the readers?
Oh yeah, also, the nonlinear storytelling is a bit out of control. The timeline is way out of control, every scene seems to be shown twice so we can see both heroes’ point of view on it…only there isn’t enough gained in the retelling to merit it. Too crazy. Initially I actually missed an issue and given the structure I initially didn’t even notice.
Huge points for the idea and the attempt. Good marks for solid art. But lower marks for the execution. As an action story it fell flat with too much political talk during the fights and a reveal on Hyperion’s Achilles’ heel that was sort of “eh.” As an attempt to educate about a real world problem, it was too much talk, not enough getting into the readers’ hearts. Entertain the hell out of me with characters I care about really enmeshed in the problem so that the teaching slips into my brain without me even being aware I’m being enlightened. As it was at the end I felt like I should see a star flying overhead with the words, “The more you learn, the more you grow!” trailing behind it.
Again, I feel jerky for dumping on an attempt to do something so positive but it just could have been so much more.

THE WALKING DEAD # 37

OK, at this point I think it's time to change the name of this book to THE TALKING DEAD.
See, there's a problem with this book. I know that for me the allure of this series when it first came out was the fact that it was about the survivors of a zombie holocaust. For me, that meant that there would be zombies. Lots of zombies. And along with zombies there would be action. Lots of action. Not only that, but it meant that the book would have a certain element of creepiness to it. I mean zombies, for the most part, equal creepy, right?
But for a long time this book has been coasting on human drama with overly wrought out scenes and overly written dialog and the zombies have gone…well, I don't know where the hell the zombies have gone. But I have to say that with the zombies missing this book has become pretty tiresome. Yes, I get the fact that in the best zombie fiction it's how the humans deal with the zombie threat that helps make the genre interesting, but with no horrifying zombie horde THE WALKING DEAD is really starting to come across as an apocalyptic version of a Mexican telenovella.
OK, maybe that's a bit harsh but I am so tired of this book just letting characters whine on and on about their feelings and how they're just struggling to cope with how hard life has become. I mean, seriously Kirkman, tighten up your dialogue. This whole issue just consisted of people standing around talking. A point that could be made in just a couple of succinct lines of dialogue is just dragged out to last almost several pages. I can't remember when I've seen word balloons this large or this crammed with words. But it's not just the fact that there's so much dialogue it's the fact that the dialogue is boring. Seriously boring.
It seems that at this point that Kirkman has forgotten what made this book popular to begin with: the zombie apocalypse. It seems to me that once Kirkman holed up all of his characters in the safety of a maximum security prison most of edge of this comic went right out the window. Now, instead of WALKING DEAD being about survivors of a zombie disaster it seems as if it's just about survivalists, and to me that's just not enough to sustain my interest in a comic book. Heck, Kirkman even says in an interview in the letter column that he'd like to get to a point where there are practically no zombies in the book and it's just about humanity trying to rebuild their world. Well, guess what Kirkman, you're already there! And you know what? It's gotten old really fast. Sure there have been some interesting and compelling moments in the past several issues, but every once in a while there are a couple of issues like this one that just drag on the human drama more than I’m willing to tolerate it. Issues like this one aren't fun to read, they're tiring.
A couple of years ago my wife and I discovered an old 70's BBC TV show called SURVIVORS that dealt with what would happen in the United Kingdom if a plague wiped out 95% of the human population. It turned out to be a really compelling (if a bit dated) little show and we were both enthralled by it. We managed to plow through the first season (or series as they call it in the UK) in record time and couldn't wait to get to watch season two. Unfortunately, when we did get to season two the whole tone of the series had shifted. Instead of the show being about the plague survivors struggling to survive against a society falling apart the series shifted to a small group of people trying to rebuild their own society from scratch. So what started off as a gripping drama in the first season became sort of a poor man's “Little House on the Prairie” in the second season. Sure, it was OK television, but it wasn't the same. The thrill was gone.
This is exactly what I'm afraid is happening to THE WALKING DEAD. It seems that the whole tone of the book has shifted and it's no longer as terrific a read as it used to be. Hell, I'd even be so bold as to say that the "torture" issue several months back may have been a desperate attempt to try and retain the book's edge, but I'd have to say that after this issue I'm almost convinced that THE WALKING DEAD'S best days are behind it. If I were going to give Kirkman some advice I'd say he should go back to the beginning of the book and see what made it so popular in the first place. Hopefully he'd be able to recapture some of the spirit that made THE WALKING DEAD such a great read. Unfortunately, for me this book is getting dangerously close to the point where I may drop it altogether. Even though it looks like there may be an interesting twist or turn down the line it may not be enough to keep me reading for much longer.

FANTASTIC FOUR #545

I was really hopeful about Dwayne McDuffie taking over the Fantastic Four. He started right out reworking Reed Richards’ reason for supporting registration in The Civil War (actually I can see that reworking going further in a specific way I hope he has in mind). Then he took the unexpected step of adding Storm and Black Panther to the team. Now he’s two issues in to his first major story for the group and, well…he is bringing it. I like it a lot.
Now, Marvel is still hip deep in the fallout of The Civil War. At the end of CIVIL WAR I was disappointed and annoyed. But I will admit, grudgingly, it has made for some good plots. Of course, it’s also made for some less than good stuff. Characters who should just be involved in the plots they’re built for being forced to shoehorn in the registration BS. The end result is a darker Marvel universe.
The current FF plot does feel the impact of CIVIL WAR, the registration act, the Initiative, whatever the hell else it is now called. Reed and Sue’s leaving the group and Black Panther and Storm joining come right out of that. But beyond that, at least for now, that’s about the extent of the impact. McDuffie has the FF doing what they do best: flying to the edge of the galaxy on a cosmic adventure. And that, blessedly, means leaving the Marvel Mess far far behind.
The plot so far basically involves, with apologies to Ed Wood, grave robbers from outer space stealing the body of the dead hero Gravity and the FF flying off to get the poor guy’s remains back. Turns out the cosmic entity Epoch is involved in this body snatching. Next thing ya know the Silver Surfer is showing up, Galactus is on the way…ahhhh, good times. After so much super seriousness in CIVIL WAR, the social importance of the latest Squadron Supreme… heck, even the limb severing, chest exploding battles of 52 and WORLD WAR III it is just such a nice change of pace to go back to a simple, old-fashioned tale of grave desecration and the potential destruction of entire planets. It sounds crazy but it’s true. There came a point in this issue where I laughed out loud for the second time and I was brought up short. It suddenly hit me that I was actually having fun reading this comic and I realized…I haven’t had that feeling for a long time. I’ve enjoyed the comics I’ve been reading but I haven’t been having full on fun. The other books seem to get me more thinking about the deep significance of what is going on, whether what they’re doing is a good thing or not…on and on. With this book instead I was laying back and enjoying the pure escapism of a fun story. So great.
And there is just such intelligence behind the writing. First, good character stuff. Usually when someone leaves the FF, I’m used to them disappearing for the foreseeable future. Last time I remember Sue and Reed leaving they were just gone. But it’s clear that McDuffie doesn’t intend to do that, that Sue and Reed to some extent will continue to be characters in the book. I did not expect that. Then there is Storm and Black Panther. They are turning out to be fun additions to the group. I always liked Black Panther but he always seemed so forcibly serious. I mean, he is the leader of a country which forces him to be sort of proper and serious. So nice to pull him out of that mode and shoot him into space where he can, oddly enough, just be a normal kind of guy dealing with his friends and a wife who tells him what to do. Also fun to see the Silver Surfer’s friendship with the FF coloring the action of the book.
Damn, it sounds like I’m frickin’ gushing. But after writing so many negative reviews, it just feels so good to find a book I really really had fun with. The only negative I can even think of isn’t even a negative, and that’s that I don’t think McDuffie has even hit his stride yet. I think there are still even better stories to come.

AMAZONS ATTACK! #1

Last time I was here, I reviewed WONDER WOMAN #7 and told you how
downright awful it was, and tried to convince you to take a pass. So
it was with great resolve on my part that when I walked into the store
a mere two weeks later and saw issue #8 on the shelves, I gave it a
pass. After the last several issues, WONDER WOMAN is off my radar and
a waste of my money until Gail Simone picks up the pieces.
Then again, I'm always a sucker for an event book and AMAZON ATTACKS!
#1 was right there to coax three extra dollars out of my wallet.
What the hell was I thinking?
First, it helps to have read WONDER WOMAN #8 before this issue, but
you don't have to; I didn't and I figured out that WONDER WOMAN #8 was
all about Wonder Woman supposedly getting kidnapped and tortured by
the government, Circe resurrecting Diana's mother Hippolyta from the
grave, and convincing said mother to go bat-shit bug-nuts crazy ass on
the US of A. At least, that's what I can infer from the differences
between WW #7 and AA #1.
Much like this review, AMAZONS ATTACK! #1 is all over the place. It's
got its good and its bad but overall it's just lousy. The whole
thing didn't grab me. The Amazons jump into the middle of Washington
DC with a bunch of World of Warcraft rejects they just happened to
have had stashed somewhere during the year that Paradise Island was
gone from the DCU. And they declare war on the US for, as a single
panel explains, torturing Wonder Woman. And Hippolyta is alive and
listening to Circe. Again with Circe. We've had months of this bitch
and almost zero screen time for Wonder Woman. Circe may have a
daughter? She might not be a one-note sorceress? This being a
special fill-in series to take care of the weeks of late Wonder Woman
issues? I don't care.
And what's with Everyman and the brand new villain? The guy has taken
over Sarge Steel's identity, but he can act too? I guess not only can
he take on Steel's body; he acquires knowledge of all the Nick
Fury-esque protocols and procedures needed to help keep the Department of Metahuman Affairs running. It makes no sense to me.
The only good part is the reference to the JLA being stationed in
Washington--and yet the only hero to show up is Black Lighting. Is he
still the Secretary of Education or something? That was some
ridiculous casting right there. This book involves Amazons beheading
males (and sniveling boy children) in Washington, DC? Great, it's
easier than impeachment. Will this get exciting? Possibly,
eventually one would hope, but I won't be there for it.

BREAKFAST OF THE GODS #1 webcomic

The cost of publishing one’s own comic is not cheap in the current market. Some creators have used their ol’ noggin and eliminated the middle man by putting out their books on the web. Now, anyone with a little computer knowledge, a bit of creativity, and the time to apply it can make their own comics these days. With the rise of requests to cover webcomics in my inbox lately, I took the idea of adding this new section to our weekly column to the table at @$$Hole HQ. After many rounds of downed shots and lobbed insults, dot.comics was born!
The dubious honor of “I’m first” in this section goes to BREAKFAST OF THE GODS. I found this to be a thoroughly entertaining and inventive comic. Much like FABLES before it, this book takes childhood icons (this time characters from breakfast cereal boxes instead of those from fairy tales) and casts them all together in an intriguing mystery filled with twists, turns, and magically delicious characterization. Anyone who grew up when actual cartoons were shown on Saturday mornings and not SAVED BY THE BELL spin-offs will appreciate seeing Tony the Tiger, Count Chocula, Captain Crunch, and Super Bear interact like you’ve never seen them before. The characters that leapt into action from your cereal boxes always looked as if they were heading out for some type of adventure. This story tells that tale.
And most of the representations of these characters look spot on. Creator Brendan Douglas Jones does a grrrrrrreat job of making these characters look like they did in all of those commercials back in the day. The best part about it is that this is a straightforward tale, more than just a parody or homage. There is real depth and story in this one. While the story itself is a parody, it takes itself and its characters quite seriously. Characters die, mingle in interesting ways, and bring you back to a time when you would whine to mom in the grocery aisle to get you that cereal you saw that morning during SMURFS with that worthless prize inside that you had to have. Reading this story was prize enough for me and well worth my time.
After browsing the site, it looks as if the creator can’t profit off of this comic because he is using licensed characters. Some of these guys haven’t been used in ages and it gave me that warm nostalgic feeling as I remembered them and the cereals they represented. Issue one was a solid read. Here’s hoping that despite the fact that profit from this story is out the window, the creator has enough passion to finish the tale. It ends with one hell of a cliffhanger bringing back yet another cereal box favorite. A debate about the legality of the usage of these trademarked characters has been rumbling around at @SSHole HQ the last few days. Artist/writer Brendan Douglas Jones clearly marks this story as parody, gives credit where credit is due at the end of issue one, and claims that he does not receive any profit from this story, so I think he’s ok legally, but some of the Holes think that Jones’ usage of licensed characters may be problematic. Here’s hoping that the long arm of the law doesn’t try to squelch this creative artist’s vision of fun and depravity.
Pissed that comic book prices are too high these days? Keep checking back to this section, folks. dot.comics will point you in the right direction for some entertaining comics that don’t cost a dime to read. BREAKFAST OF THE GODS is just one of them. Check it out!

DRAGON HEAD #6

This is the only manga book that I read on a regular basis. And I'm not sure why, because it is definitely one of my favorite reads issue after issue. I should be reading more. I know a lot of you guys stay away from the Big Eyes, but coming from someone who used to only read books from the Big Two, DRAGON HEAD is definitely the book to read if you want to be introduced to the world of good manga.
DRAGON HEAD started out a straight forward horror tale about a trio of kids on a train who see a mysterious formation of clouds just before entering a long tunnel. Pretty soon, all hell breaks loose, the power in the tunnel goes out, the train crashes, and the trio of kids turns out to be the only survivors. The first few issues had the children struggle to maintain their own sanity while trying to get out of the tunnel. Two issues ago, they did just that: after a grueling mental and physical ordeal, two of the three children seemingly survived and escaped only to find themselves facing a new obstacle as the world outside of the tunnel proved to be just as dangerous.
Since escaping the tunnel, this straight-up horror yarn has evolved into something more akin to a full-throttle action experience. The kids are on the run from human horrors and the cause of the cataclysm that has seemingly wiped out the entirety of civilization is still a mystery. Was it a nuclear war? Was it a scientific experiment gone wrong? And why is the term Dragon Head whispered and feared? Does it have anything to do with the looming dark clouds that are covering everything, raining soot and blackness and death?
DRAGON HEAD is like the best LOST episodes in that there is a mystery here, but the cause of all of this horror is unkown. We don't know if it is man-made or something mystical. All we know is that civilization is over and humanity has been reduced to its lowest level. This issue of DRAGON HEAD illustrates this wonderfully as a pair of the children survivors go on a desperate mission for medical supplies. As they rush to save a wounded survivor's life, the kids flee an angry black mob of insane survivors who want to kill anyone who cross their path. The jungles are filled with military survivors hunting the kids too. Basically, these kids are running from everyone. The action is sandwiched and intensified with every layer. Along the way, the children find new survivors to add to the cast. Again, similarities to LOST can be made in that the camera continues to slowly pan back to show the scope of the problem these survivors find themselves in the middle of. What started out as a simple survival tale set in a tunnel has now spread to all of civilization and maybe, the world.
Writer and artist Minetaro Mochizyuki is taking his time revealing the mysteries here. He fills each issue with so much danger that you don't find yourself frustrated with the snail's pace the answers come at. I found myself too wrapped up in the action to care. The last two issues of this series in particular have been a marathon of thrills and chills, never allowing the readers or the characters within to catch their breath.
Mochizyuki's art is breathtaking as well. Highly detailed and crisp, the panels make you scan the page for minutes after reading just to soak in the depth and time spent in making it. But despite the full surroundings, you never lose focus of the character in these panels. This is proof positive that the art in this book is the work of a master.
I know there are those of you who will skip over this review. You're the same folks who vow to never pick up a manga book in your life. But I urge you to think about giving this book a try on one of those light weeks where not too many books have been released. Instead of complaining about how one of the big companies are mischaracterizing a character, give this book or any indie or manga book a try.

JOHNNY HIRO #1

"Oh, Hiro. You save me AND real estate market."
My favorite comics finds are the ones that come out of seeming nowhere. One day, some creator I've never heard of will put something out that just blows me away, and I'm happy for days. Well, welcome Fred Chao to that group. I don't know much about him, despite a google search, but I do know this - if he continues at the quality level in this issue, I'll be reading his work for years.
The basic story here is pretty simple. Johnny Hiro and his girlfriend Mayumi live in New York. Mayumi's mother used to be one of the five pilots of Super A-OK Robot, who defeated Gozadilla in the Seventies. Gozadilla's back, and he wants revenge - on Mayumi. When a giant lizard takes your girl, what's a guy to do? You put on your pajama bottoms and her Hello Bunny slippers (try not to stretch them out) and you rescue her. Well, you try. Hiro does his best, but it doesn't quite work out that way. Mayumi doesn't care, though - her man risked his life for her, and that's plenty.
Chao takes us on a fun-filled romp here, as good intentions don't really end up enough to succeed but prove to have a reward all their own. His art style, one that pulls from both manga and western influences to make something all his own, is energetic and strong. Somewhat cartoony, it delivers emotions and action with equal flair, and Chao pays as much attention to backgrounds as he does main characters. Pages are a well-done mix of varied panel layouts and splash pages, each feeling organic on the page, never forced. Impressive stuff.
Overall, this is a fun read, with a cool story and dialogue, neat characters, and great art, but what really intrigues me is that this is just the beginning for Chao. If he's starting here, how good is he going to get?

WASTELAND VOL. 1: CITIES IN THE DUST

The cover to this volume has the blurb “[This book] Kicks seven different kinds of ass.” I have no idea what that means, and I’m the one who wrote it. I do know that I said that in relation to the first issue, and haven’t reviewed an issue since. So does this little line still live up to the book? Oh god no.
This book kicks a helluva lot more ass than that.
That first issue, with its town-destroying brawl, was a blast and a half, and it set up an interesting post-apocalyptic mystery. I said as much last year. But with the second of the six issues collected here, writer Antony Johnston brings us to a larger city, where the story ratchets up the tension along with a massive dose of political intrigue. Of course, he follows this up with some balls to the wall action. Next comes some religious allegory, then more intrigue, then an even more balls to the wall scene. Lather, rinse, repeat. And at no point does the story ever approach anything that resembles dull.
Of Christopher Mitten, all I can say is this: where the unholy hell has this guy been hiding? Each page, every single damn page is haunting. The desert-dwellers, the city of Newbegin, every single appearance of the Lord Founder…there are plenty of reasons I voted this guy the best artist of ’06, and these are only a few of them. Just touching these pages can cause your adrenaline levels to spike.
This book contains the whole of the first six issues, with seven and eight still readily available in any decent comic shop. (Issue #7, by the way, features guest artwork from the great and powerful Carla Speed McNeil.) I’d pick them up when you get this book if I were you. And you should definitely get this book. It kicks fifteen different kinds of ass.
I still don’t know what that means, but who cares. Buy this damn book.

JOSH HOWARD PRESENTS: SASQUATCH

"Nobody cares about Bigfoot anymore. Bigfoot is the new Tarzan. You think there's any Tarzan fans left in the world? Of course not. And there are no Bigfoot fans left either." - Morris (sleazy Hollywood agent)
One of the best things about this thoroughly entertaining anthology is the massively different artistic styles on display throughout the entire 250+ pages.
Artist Josh Howard, creator of DEAD@17, corralled over 30 different contributors to this huge anthology with a single thematic focus - SASQUATCH. All permutations of Sasquatch are fair game including Bigfoot, Yeti, and others. The contributions run the gamut from pure insanity to gag strips to sci-fi to lush fantasy.
I find it difficult to give this book a thorough review because there's just so much quality content for the money. So, I'm going to quickly spotlight a few of my favorites and hope that will give potential readers a taste of what they may find to enjoy in this volume. Of the bunch, from a purely artistic perspective, "Memoirs of a Bigfoot," by the folks at Blink Twice (creators of the unbelievably entertaining MALCOLM MAGIC) is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I seethe with jealousy at how effortlessly amazing the art is in this clever and fun story.
"Little Bigfoot" is larf-out-loud funny. Constructed with minimal text and zero dialogue so the story is told entirely through pictures, it's a great little twisted bit. "The Sasquad" is a series of one-page gags of a super-team of Sasquatches. The gags are scattered throughout the volume with each one constructed to look like a DC comic cover circa early 80s. I loved the picture accompanying the tag-line "Watch the Horror!" as the Yeti member of The Sasquad has grabbed the Mummy's wrapping and is dragging it back and forth in his crotch! Har!
Josh Howard himself produced a gem called "The Hunt" featuring Sasquatch as a member of the U.S. Special Forces getting called in to take out Osama. Nice. "Smallfoot" is a winner that's a nice sendup of the whole Bigfoot-hunting craze. Wes Molebash contributes a nicely hilarious "Sasquatch and Timmy" which is strangely reminiscent of Syd Hoff's classic children's book "Julius." Finally, the funniest thing in the whole book is a series of gag strips called "Yeti Another Day." Check out this sample.
Those are my favorites, but every story had something solidly entertaining about it. I really enjoyed seeing what a number of artists I had never seen before did with this opportunity. Artist Josh Boulet, is a real find. The story he illustrated, "Top of the World", was written by Matthew McLean and could easily have seen print in one of the old DC horror and mystery anthologies. The art was solidly professional and appealing. "Pitch-Forked" is a scathing commentary on the idiotic behind-the-scenes dealings that go on in Hollywood. It features some art by a guy named Tone Rodriguez who demonstrates a strong natural talent for story-telling. Blatant Neal Adams and early John Byrne emulation at times, but still very good at storytelling.
I only have one complaint, and it is a minor one. But it has to do with a marketing and sales perspective. I definitely understand the goal of someone like Josh Howard to not want to hinder any of his the contributors in their individual artistic visions. As a result, the book runs the gamut from all-ages type of stuff (like Wes Molebash) to older juvenile (like a couple of stories that are clearly homages to the old E.C. horror comics). The blood and gore is minimal throughout and the language is largely limited to minor profanities and a bunch of dingbats. Then I got to the last story in the volume and there was the "F-word." And I kind of sank a little in my enjoyment. Not because it overly offends me. I'm not a prude. It'd be a lie to say that has not crossed my lips or jumped from my keyboard before. But here's the thing. When I pick up something like this SASQUATCH anthology, my mind automatically goes to evaluating the book as to whether it would be a book I could feel good about donating to a school library as a way of hooking new comic book readers. The simple presence of that word in a "funny book" virtually kills its chances of making it into the hands of the audience who would probably enjoy it the most - middle/jr. high school-aged kids. These are the future of the comic industry and like it or not, school libraries and uninformed parents are not the sort to respond favorably to a graphic novel that looks like it's intended for juveniles but then sports the king of all bad words - the one that got Ralphie's mouth washed out with soap.
I want comics to succeed and grow, but to do that everyone, including the Indies, have got to stop a moment occasionally and see if the merits of the work might be worth cleaning up the language slightly sometimes so that the work can have the maximum exposure. I challenge anyone to read that last story and honestly say that the story would have been creatively diminished in any way by a substitution of another euphemism or dingbats in its place.
Talkbackers…talk.
For the audience here, though, I can't imagine anyone who's a regular reader of this column who would not thoroughly enjoy this anthology cover to cover. One of my favorite comics of the year so far.

Giffen and DeMatteis' kooky yarn that turns superheroics on its ear gets a little more complicated in this issue as our slacker Milo and his alter-ego from an alternate reality, Captain Valor, continue to get their lives mixed up with one another. Milo continues to be manipulated into bed by the villainous Caliginous while her alternate reality self, Stephie, looks to be developing feelings for Captain Valor, who is currently wracked with guilt due to a slugfest that resulted in much damage and loss of life. Giffen and DeMatteis smartly tell an enthralling straight-up super hero tale while making comments on the industry at the same time. Not too many writers could pull this off without seeming down on the industry, but the way this series embraces these "out there" plots and turns them into sitcom-like situations can't help but entertain. This is the crown jewel in BOOM!'s stable of product. - Ambush Bug

This issue is a very strong offering from a publisher I have never heard of, Platinum Studios. Apparently, they are going to be putting out the KISS comic book, so I may have to take notice of them in the coming months, but until then, I’ll be having a hell of a good time reading HERO BY NIGHT. The story is simple. A slacker is trying his hand at a real job that his pop set up for him. He’s to be the new slumlord or “super” (get it?) to an apartment complex that has been around since the WWII era. While tooling about in the basement of the building, said slacker comes across a secret room that leads to the secret hideout of an age-old hero. What I loved about this first issue were the little touches of character scattered throughout. When the slacker AKA Jack King comes across the hero’s secret room, he immediately thinks it would be a great hangout room. While reading the hero’s journal, Jack dons the hero’s mask. It’s tiny bits of imaginative joy that make this book special. Done in a cartoony style, this fun yarn would interest those who enjoy the youthful imaginings of SHAZAM! The fact that the series’ baddie finds out the hero is still alive through eBay is another clever nod to modern technology mixed with age-old super-heroics. Give this book a shot. It looks to be a fun ride. – Ambush Bug

Although comparisons to CHILD'S PLAY and AI are inevitable, this is a strong first issue from writers Andrew Crosby and Johanna Stokes. A scientist on the run hides a sophisticated artificial intelligence disk inside a teddy bear in a toy shop. Minutes later, a kid convinces his estranged father to buy him the same bear. Now Mr. Stuffins finds himself in the middle of a mission that he doesn't fully understand, mainly because there is none. It's fun seeing the turmoils of this kid’s life being taken care of by a teddy bear who thinks he is on a high-stakes espionage mission. The disk's creators show up at the end of the issue which will most definitely prove to be cause to make Mr. Stuff

Wow. It's been a genuine pleasure to publish you guys for six years now, and I think AICN COMICS continues to be one of the things we can be justifiably proud of as a website.
<P>I want to thank every single @$$hole who has ever contributed, and congratulate you on the consistent quality of your work. It doesn't get said often enough, so I'll say it here.
Oh... and first, bitches.

I WON!?!?!?!!!
........ummm but I never win anything??? Surely this must be some "Crisis on Infinite A$$holes" convergence of worlds! Are you sure it was me?....It could have been The other me from Earth 2. Or even worse, that A$$hole from Earth 3! :o Hey! If truly thou hath bestowed upon me a new A$$hole accolade, then I shalt covet thee like mine neighbor! :D -Dr.Zeus (Earth4Thor) ....hmm I hope I get a secret A$$hole decoder ring, and an Official A$$hole No-Prize, or heck, just a new A$$hole. heh

I picked up one of the books a little while back when issue 32 was out and couldn't put it down. I will admit that the whinging in the comic can be a little tiresome but for lack of zombies i dont have an issue with. Yes zombies need to be in it but other stories need to be told too and setting up the *other* camp will hopefully lead to a mad max 2 type battle (i hope) with zombies in the mix. I love the comic and although the torture scene felt a little out of place or at least OTT but with no authorities seemingly around people will do crazy stuff. the only thing was it did go a little far and the fact that none of the governor's people outside of his little army knows anything to me is a little dumb.
It does need more injection to the story line but for now i still enjoy the read and can't wait for the next issue.

Looking for Group (LFGCOMIC.COM). They're doing it in twice-weekly page installments with 32 pages equalling a comic book (which last I heard they are planning to publish on dead trees). It's a WOW/D&D style comic, but it's clever and action-packed. Start from the beginning and you will be a Richard Convert. Highly recommended.

Why they couldn't have just extended the war over 2 issues of 52 instead of releasing the pointless and shoddy tie-ins is just an exercise in blatant commercialism. I like the Walking Dead, even with the melodrama aspect, but finally someone has admitted that Kirkman can't write dialogue, it is so heavy and hammy that it just brings you out of the story. It would be okay if it was stylistically meaty, like Mamet, or to a lesser extent Bendis, but it is just plain bad.

The Nightwing annual was a great read...nice mix of the comical and the poignant. Here's hoping that Barbara will be up and running (literally) this year. It is time to bring back BATGIRL!!! J.G. Jones doing the art on the new book has me almost too impatient.
Very good column this week! As far as Breakfast of the Gods, how is it much different than Alan Moores usual schtick??

Stories need a good balance of plot advancement and character development. Too much character development without the characters reacting to plot makes the characters boring. Too much plot without character development makes you not care about the characters. Kirkman has too much character development and not enough plot advancement. Not once has anyone asked WHY there are zombies or at least contemplate finding out so they could stop what is going on. That just seems logical to me that they would discuss it. So, yeah. I agree with the review, "the Walking Dead" has gone a little "Lost" on us.

Wow, that review of Hyperion/Nighthawk was so right on, I wish to God you had written the story. I LOVE the direction Squadron Supreme has gone (although I wish they would get back to the ongoing monthly) and was looking forward to a story that would explain how Nighthawk came into the group. Anything, ANYTHING would have been better than this. I thought I was having deja vu with all the flashbacks covering the same incident over and over again. As for Walking Dead, I have to disagree. For me, this book still has the same edge-of-your-seat storytelling its always had. Of course, that could be because I wait for the trades on this one, so I get a huge chunk of story all at once. I loved the torture book, and can't wait to see where Kirkman is going next. I think a lot of respect also needs to be paid to the Luna Brothers for Girls. This was consistently one of the best comics out there through its entire run, good enough to have me buy the individual issues and then also go back and buy the trades. The art was gorgeous, the storyline a balanced blend of characterization and action, and, although it probably didn't provide all the answers the readers wanted, it was a masterpiece nonetheless.

I've had enough of Dwayne McDuffie take on the Black Panther in the Fantastic Four. Everyone wants to cry when characters act out of sorts in Civil War but are praising things in F.F.? First he bullies Uatu with the Ultmate Nullifier (just to find a dead body mind you). Then puts the SILVER SURFER in an unbreakable headlock?! No. McDuffie needs to take some characterization lessons from Reginald Hudlin. The Panther is a diplomat, why queer the F.F.'s relations with Uatu? I hope Reed spanks him good when he returns.

JSA:C was kinda a weak story (though loads better than anything with Wonder Woman this week). The story was good, but somehow I don't think Bedard fully grasped Alan Scott. His characterization didn't feel right, like it wasn't all there.<BR><BR>The best book for my money boiled down to this: "IS. THAT. A. GIANT. GREEN. FIST?" "It's why I've never had to raise my voice." More heart in its pinky finger than the rest of my pull list combined.

reading G.I. Joe comics these days? There's so much 80s geekery around here, I would expect it. Some cool things are going on in the land of G.I. Joe, with new writers, artists and an upcoming storyline titled... World War III. Seriously. But it'll be cool. Anybody? Reviews have been popping up on newsarama, etc.

Fuck you ya fuckin fuck. (I hope this makes my position on swearing in comics abundantly clear) (*_^)
After all, if a creative writing endeavor is deliberately censored to achieve a wider audience how is that any different from a movie?

I willadmit that the weakest bit in the FF was the idea Panther could successfully use a headlock on Silver Surfer. I didn't buy the direct explanation but I stil did buy it. Why? Because of the setup for the fight. This wasn't the FF vs. The Silver Surfer out for blood. This was the FF vs. a Surfer who actually liked them and was only throwing down with them because that's his job. So he was trying to getthem to leave but not kill them. WHen Panther put his hold on Surfer I could picture Surfer thinking, "Okay, I'll humor him for a little bit, let him think he's accomplishing something before I swat him like a bug."

Of course, I love pretty much everything about the Squadron Supreme the last couple years, but I found this to be an interesting (if, yes, overly expository)miniseries. I generally HATE to be "taught" anything in a comic, and am embarrassed to say I didn't even know Darfur existed before this mini. I found that I miraculously learned while being entertained, and it wasn't too preachy. Maybe just a little.
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I have also been, generally, a fan of 52, though I could have done without the redonkulous "origin" pages, and agree that some of the revamps (Martian Manhunter, in particular) have been atrocious. The WWIII stuff was definitely entertaining waste of time, with no real "there" there.
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Last month's Heroes for Hire, the first by Zeb Wells, was so poorly drawn and weakly written, that I was about to drop what was once (when it was a mini called Daughters of the Dragon) one of my absolute favorite comics. This issue, the art was better and the story much improved. Still, I used to find this a fresh book, and now it seems pretty average. Not bad, but not unique anymore. Also, I feel Zeb Wells has much less feel for the characters. Still gonna buy next month, but it's an issue-to-issue thing with me now.
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Finally, I am a big dork and I really enjoyed that Nightwing annual. It touched me.

The new MM series struck me as something being written by someone who doesn't even like the character. I can picture someone sitting in a conference room saying, that Martian Manhunter is boring. We have to make him more exciting!

Can you show the jury where the NIGHTWING ANNUAL touched you on this doll right here?<br><br>
I think Wells first issue with H4H was kind of weak, but I blame that on Wells having to fiinish a story that he didn't start. Now with this story with Moon Boy, I think Wells is going to have a chance to shine. I'm glad Wells has been given a fun book like this to play wiht.<br><br>
Gotta get back to the stock room now...

Hmmmm Jinxo...yer headlock explanation isn't bad. I'll buy it.
I don't know if I'll go back for the rematch next issue though.
...and good point mbeemer. I, like Sue Richards, must be blinded by Reed's supremo honeymoon. (another strike against the current F.F. run)
Get Walt Simonson off Hawkgirl and put him on the F.F.!!!!

...at will. In the past, he's easily altered himself enough to slug it out with the Thing and the Hulk. This may be an instance, such as his first Hulk battle, where he allowed himself to be manhandled because he was too merciful to splatter his opponent. In the Hulk story, he was about to remove the gamma radiation from Bruce Banner but the Hulk just wouldn't stop slugging him in the face.

I kind of liked the fact that a character with powers so miniscule compared to the Silver Surfer's was able to hold him back. I didn't attribute the Panther's success with the hold to the SIlver SUfer giving him some leeway. I thought it was cool because the Panther had such a knowledge of basic physics that he was able to use a move that uses the strength of the person against them no matter how strong you are. There are plenty of martial arts moves that uses an opponent's strengths against himself. I thought this was a nice way to show that even out of the throne room and the jungle, the Black Panther was still a formidable opponent.

I wanted to buy that Panther could legitimately grapple the Surfer but... I just couldn't quite go there. If Don Knotts put Hulk Hogan in the same hold, I wouldn't expect it to work out so well for Don no matter what, unless Hulk was willfully holding back a bit. And given the scenario I truly don't think Surfer was giving it his all.

Dang it. Now I have a picture in my head of Storm showing the Surfer that trick where women can stand with there head against a wall and pick up a chair but men can't. Surfer has his head against the wall, trying to pick up the chair, going, "I'll be darned. I have the power of the cosmos but... I really can't pick up this chair. I have been defeated by Ikea. Go figure."

I was one of the winners for the cover caption contest! Anything to help you @$$hole's. Congrats on the 6th year too, that's a nice accomplishment (I'm serious, it's called sincerity folks). It's also nice that Moriarty gives credit where it's due. Now, enough of the @$$ kisery!
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Vroom! Right on about Elk's Run man. Thanks for pointing to the article all those months ago saying that it would be collected. I ordered the a few copies of the first issue and was so impressed that I gave one to my LCS way back then and they started to carry it. Then, a few weeks ago they handed me the completed trade and I nearly wet my pants A) because I didn't know the trade was out and B) my LCS fucking rocks. Anyways, anybody who wants something different and bitches about mainstream affair, check out Elk's Run.
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Call me crazy, but I thought Kirkman has been 'bringin it' lately with the Walking Dead. I haven't read #37 yet, but does all it take for readers to get their panties in a bunch one issue of talking? Read a the first 3-5 issues of a Bendis 6 parter and get back to me. Oh, snap! Awww, just kidding Bendii, take it easy!
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Oh, and somebody mentioned Girls. I haven't read the last issue yet, but thank the maker that it is the last issue. That thing pandered around for so long and had no sense of urgency, chemistry or purpose for about 20 issues of it's 24 issue run. That said, I think there was a huge 'potential' there, but the ball was dropped. I seriously doubt that the final issue resolved everything and that it did it well, but I'll reserve final judgment for when I read it…

Just sos we're on the same page. Censorship means someone in power (usually guv'mint) comes in after the fact and changes a work of art or literature because of a perceived sense of indecency. For example: The famous fig leaf placed over Michealangelo's DAVID or more recently, The New York Times when they airbrushed the cigarette away on a cover photo of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt. All my caution there was mainly directed towards the artists involved, and it's not wrong for editor or publisher (in this case Josh Howard) to make suggestions for the contributors to consider, to sometimes just step back and consider whether the "fuck" is so incredibly essential to the work or might it have a wider audience if a different euphemism was used. Check out GALAXY QUEST sometime. You can clearly see when Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver were facing those giant hammer thingees that Sigourney clearly yells "WHAT THE FUCK?! If you watch her mouth. Yet, somewhere in the editing process, it got overdubbed in as "WHAT THE HELL?!!" Sure, the original line was probably funny, but the dubbed is just as good and it helped make the movie PG-13 rather than R and that translated to a pretty big hit that summer. An R would've limited the viewership immensely and the movie itself is hugely enjoyable for pretty much any age. SASQUATCH is great. I suggest that it would sell younger without that one word.

I hate to be "that guy" but the actual bit from Galaxy Quest was that she obviously says "Fuck that!" and it's dubbed "Screw that!" Just to clarify. What I find weird is, Bruce Almighty came out, was rated PG-13 and he said, "Back to you, fuckers!" As far as I can tell, the MPAA lets you get away with saying "fuck" one time and you can still get a PG-13. Unless they allow a noun and not a verb... dumbasses. In Bruce, the fact that it was essentially the only curse word, and was the worst one, made it a shock and extra funny. Obviously, Sigourney's line would've worked the same way. Maybe they just thought the flick would attract younger viewers?

Cause not all of us geeks are SOOOOO anal-retentive that we remember every line of every movie VERBATIM!!!! :) The ratings principle, as I understand it, is that a movie CAN receive a PG-13 with no more than one use of "Fuck" so long as it's not used to describe a sex act. WhaHUH???? But, even that is not set in stone. If the movie itself is one that is overall geared towards a younger audience then even one instance is too much -- especially if there's heightened violence or action. That would likely be the thing in GALAXY QUEST which, if you watch the deleted stuff you'll see that the language in that entire movie was quite a bit rougher throughout originally. But all that was still to just reinforce the point that censorship, in general, for it to be "censorship" means that it is imposed by someone other than the creative artist(s) involved -- and usually after the work is finished. Language choice is a creative choice, but in the world of commercial art like a graphic novel, as with any other novel, the target consumer audience needs to be considered because if the artist alienates consumers then he kills his chances of having publisher invest in him in the future.

...there's a scene where his partner says "fuck" five times. They actually just bleep out all of 'em except for the final "Fuck you!" for comedic affect. I also believe (keep in mind I haven't seen the movie since 1991) that at one point Slater actually addresses the audience directly (his character does that a lot in the movie) and tells us that a PG-13 is allowed up to three uses of the word "fuck". I could be wrong, but since I haven't bought a copy of the movie yet I can't be sure.

It's pretty much the best thing to come out of INFINITE CRISIS, along with maybe ALL-NEW ATOM. John Rogers is really doing a great job on BEETLE; I just wish more people noticed. I loved the scene you brought up too, and having Guy Gardner show up and actually kinda apologize for previously being a jerk while still coming off like Guy was handled really well. And I still find myself laughing at the whole "Forehead Of Justice" gag from a coupla months ago.<p>
SERIOUSLY, PEOPLE: BUY BLUE BEETLE ALREADY, DAMMIT!

So...yesterday it happened, I had my first actual Whedongasm. AXM, Buffy, and Runaways all hit on the same Wednesday. My pop-culture entertainment gland throbbed so long and so hard it is sorer than a Bangkok whore's quim on buck-a-bang Tuesday! I smirked, laughed, and was so goddamn entertained I needed a cigarette.<p> Oh and Prof? I hear what you're saying, I just don't agree with it. Oh and censorship is defined as the act of censoring, period. Governmental or other parties of power are irrelevant to the definition, it is the act itself plain and simple. If the author DECIDES (for whatever his/her reason) to change something that's one thing. The moment the request/decision comes from someone OTHER than the author it IS censorship plain and simple.

I bought six issues and it wasn't bad, just boring. So I had to drop it.
<p>
I think I didn't like the end of 52..and I am also a bit confused SPOLIER ALERT SPOILER ALERT...is there now a "megaverse?" But the Freedom Fighter and JSA are still on the same earth as JLA, etc. They have various earth people just in the personnel of Checkmate. Can someone explain? I was confused by the WWIII too, and it was nicely explained to me.

There are currently 52 different Earth-# in the multverse, each of them "derived" from the "New Earth" at the end of Infinite Crisis.
<br><br>
Mr. Mind sucked nuggets of history from each of these Earths, creating different and separate timelines for each, all derived from Earth-1.<br><br>
"New Earth" is Earth-1; it is the current mainstream DCU. A different iteration on the Crime Syndicate is Earth-3. Earth-5 (Earth-***S***) is the Shazam! Earth. Based on ION, expect an Earth-# to be named for the Tangent Earth eventually.<br><br>

Soooooo does that mean that there is an Uncle Sam Earth and a Earth Prime (New Earth) where Uncle Sam interacts with the rest of the DCU and functions on the same timeline?<br><br>
Same with SHAZAM?<br><br>
If so, why is this a good thing? DC did a lot of work to clean up all of the continuity flubs and weird multi-earth crap. Now they seem to be messing things up again.

I am a big @$$hole because I was not thrilled with the 52 earths. I do appreciate the explanation, though.
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No Whedongasm for me. I am a true oddball, because I think he's done great on Runaways so far, but this week's Astonishing X-Men was unimpressive. Was ok, but not that great. My feelings about Astonishing in general.

That's funny, I seem to remember 2 attempts to clean up continuity and then an understanding that continuity isn't the end-all be-all and fuck it, why not tell whatever story we want. But whatever, those of you not liking it are fucked, so get over it.<p>Oh and Mbeemer? 1st Crisis destroys Multiverse(1985), Zero Hour attempted to rectify the continuity holes left by Crisis (1994), 2nd Crisis restores Multiverse (2005) is ALL I've seen from DC Since 1985. What are you reading? (By the way, please note that only 2 of those had ANYTHING to with a multiverse also)

It's just confusing and a waste. I am honestly asking "Why?" Since all the JSA people exist in New Earth, along with the Marvels, Freedom Fighters, etc, what is the purpose in recreating all these different earths? To tell new Freedom Fighters stories on Earth 5 where the Nazis won WW2? Whatever, no one wants to read that sh!t. We already have a great FF on New Earth. To put the Marvel Family in a self-contained universe with all that retro whatever? To see that Earth 2 Huntress in action again? Bleegh!

If it turns you off, don't spend the coins, eh? For me, Jeff Smith's Shazam series has reminded me that I will damn near always enjoy a decent take on the classic Marvels. (As a kid reading 'em in the 70's the Big Red Cheese was just plain cooler than Supes) Though I repeat, it doesn't suck to have all those stories I've read re-validated and that's that. :)

Frome Newsarama: 'Some of them may resemble some pre-Crisis realities. Most do not. I don't think it was anyone's intention to "restore" a multiverse, nor to "restore" old stories. You're overthinking it.'

NRAMA: And these new earths affected by Mr. Mind just happen to resemble earths that existed before the first Crisis, which happened, as certain DCU characters remember the earlier multiverse...<p>
MW: Some of them may resemble some pre-Crisis realities. Most do not. I don't think it was anyone's intention to "restore" a multiverse, nor to "restore" old stories. You're overthinking it.<p>
NRAMA: So, to put a philosophical twist on it, this really is the worlds being changed by the flapping of a butterfly's wings, huh?<p>
MS: Yes.
You know, I had a much longer and far more amusing answer, but at the end of the day, the answer is still “yes.”<p>
NRAMA: The various earths that we've seen here - characters that are alive there, but not on ours, etc...what's up with that? Specifically Power Girl, missing on Earth-2, but present on Earth-1. Why aren't there just two versions of Power Girl, as there are with the Marvels, the Charlton heroes, etc?<p>
MS: As we have now been joined by the one and only Geoff Johns, writer extraordinaire, I humbly pass the mike to Mark and Geoff. Fellas, do your thing.<p>
MW: There's probably more than two. Of any or all of those guys. That's the beauty of it. INFINITE IDEAS, dude. Don't make me look at you and start wondering how big a boot you'd make.<p>
Geoff Johns: Everything in that shot is in there for a reason.<p>
NRAMA: Okay…but then, does the JSA still exist on New Earth? But it exists on Earth 2 as well, right?<p>
MW: Sure! Why not? And maybe Earth-46. And maybe Earth-29. Who knows? The entire point of making 52 worlds was to create possibilities, not limit them.<p>
NRAMA: Alright then, is there a master list of all the earths that charts all of these differences and similarities?<p>
MW: There is not. We, at one point, were asked to provide one, and that 's when we all pointed out that cataloguing them and locking them all in stone is totally antithetical to the whole concept of opening up a realm of wonder and infinite possibility. Superhero comics aren't about rules. They're about flying.<p>
Greg Rucka: Why in the name of all that is holy would we give that away three days after we've brought them back? Sheesh. You guys give a whole new definition to the word "impatience.

52!<BR><BR><BR>
And Mark Waid really did say it best: Superhero comics aren't about rules. They're about flying.
<BR><BR>Also, did anyone notice that the former Earth-X (Freedom Fighter Earth) is now Earth 10? Heh.<BR><BR><BR>But really, what a way to end it. There were so many breathtaking and geekout moments in there.. I haven't seen anything like it since Infinite Crisis, only these moments resonated more. Ted Kord! Wow. Imagine seeing the moment in Booster's new series when he has to place the scarab where it'll be found and recovered by Hawkman, only to have Ted recover it for CtIC.

http://tinyurl.com/yqtexm <BR><BR>As simple as it's drawn (and it makes like the Larry Hama G.I. Joe silent issue), it really was enchanting and there's promise of more to come. The surprises really made it. But then I also happen to extremely like Welsh Corgis.

They're about flying." <br>BWAHAHAHA after reading about this 52 shit, that's the funniest thing ever. Reading that summary does not inspire thoughts of realms of wonder and imagination, it inspires me to buy a different comic.

I didn't really take advantage of the free books because there was this one book, Comics 101 from TwoMorrows Publishing, that I had requested but my shop ran out before I got there. *sigh* And I know, they put Owly and Korgi in their FCBD book, but it seemed redundant to get that book and Korgi.<BR><BR>D'you get any interesting reads this weekend?

And if so, do you have your copy of issue 19 volume 2 handy? ( I ask because there is a bit of dialogue in there that utterly slams while clocking the 'Pro-Reg' bullshit that has poisoned the Marvel U. proper)

What'd you think of B&B #3? I'm personally thinking this Beetle could fit in equally well as Ted Kord into a JLI, though for different reasons. I'd love to see that, if only for the tug of war that'd ensue between Batman and Guy Gardner. (not to mention the interaction he's had with Booster Gold, Fire's appeared in his book, and his one adventure with the New Gods isn't even a hop and a skip from Scott Free)

that's pretty hilarious, putting those 2 books together. heh. ....wait, you weren't kidding?<br><br>Psy is that the latest issue? I am liking Whedon on it, but I'm not so sure about giant dude with metal wings and a sword controlled by old lady...seems way to 1990's for me. Also, I miss Alphona, though the new cat is pretty good.

Yeah I believe the Korgi thing in the Owly book is just a few pages from the first trade that came out (and my shop somehow didn't order, grrrr). It kind of threw me off cause I was expecting a somewhat realistic tale and I get a Korgi lighting a tree on fire with its mind. Still am going to have to pick up that trade, though. <br> And for the love of all woodland creatures, PLEASE get the Owly Vol. 1 trade. $10!

Lighting a tree on fire with its mind?! Tree or troll? 'Cause that wasn't in the book! DAMMIT! Gotta have Pyro Korgi goodness. The full first trade has a lot in common with something like The Hobbit, actually.

Well maybe the few pages were not from the trade. Actually they probably weren't. Yes there's a troll thing, hiding in a tree, and spoilers Korgi gets a look of fire reflected in his eyes. And then we see the tree half-burnt with a grumpy burnt troll thing in it. To be fair, the troll thing stole the dog's cookie. That's just mean.

B.
<br><br>
I think Mark has an excellent hand on his characterization in B&B #3, and Batman is treating him like a father might treat someone else's kid. Not like Bruce treats Robin, but more like a "fun" High School coach and a student one-on-one. And not the kind of coach that touches you in the team shower room. <br><br>I loved their back-n-forth banter, and I think Mark has done more for Supergirl than anyone has since she was first re-inserted into the DCU.

"The restoration of the DC Universe's multiple earth(52), the terrible future their actions are having an implied relevance upon what is going on(DC's upcoming countdown)". I think these story ideas have been lifted from "Twilight of the superheroes" by Alan Moore?